Boston promoter bringing the naked funny

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on January 14th, 2008

The Northeastern News, the Northeastern University student paper, has an article on The Naked Comedy Showcase, held the first Wednesday of every month at the ImprovBoston Theater. It’s standup comedy, featuring Boston-area comics, and they perform naked.

The creator of the show, Andy Ofiesh, has been putting on naked shows since 2002, after the idea came about during the entertainment portion of a clothing-optional retreat he attended nearly 10 years ago.

“I just tried it,” he said of performing stand-up in the nude. “It sort of came about by accident.”

We are being brave and trying not to imagine just what “it” refers to in that last sentence.

No female comics were quoted in the piece. We suspect that’s because no female comics have taken the naked challenge. If one did, says The Female Half, “it would be the only show where she wouldn’t hear ‘Show us your tits’ shouted from the back of the room.” She adds that she has had nightmares about performing naked and news of Ofiesh’s naked, on-purpose showcase brings shudders.

We’re not prudish when it comes to this latest gimmick. Far from it. (In fact, judging from the quotes that author Cynthia Retamozo has gathered, neither is the Boston public– the reaction seems to be one of tolerance, mild curiosity or, at the very most, declarations by critics that the shows might be “in poor taste.”) We can’t get all that worked up about it. We might even be inclined to declare that the concept is… dated, perhaps?

But, even in the face of tepid reactions from students, critics and others, some feel the need to defend the showcase, even dropping the A-bomb (Art!). To wit, this comment from Myq Kaplan, a regular commenter on these pages and one who took the naked standup plunge:

“…there is nudity in art, award-winning films and explicit music lyrics. If someone has a problem with their performance, he said, then they shouldn’t bother seeing it.

“Every art form pushes boundaries in certain directions,” he said.

A quote from Northeastern architecture major Nicole Fichera is telling: “I think I would maybe cover my eyes a few times, but it would probably be funny.”

To which we reply with a question or two: “Would it be funny with the eyes closed?” And, “Would it be funny if the comedians were clothed?” The answer to both questions is “Yes,” which leads us to conclude that the nudity adds nothing to the proceedings, making it neither more nor less artsy than, say, standup comedy performed by fully clothed men and women.

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